Tag: Badminton

Having visited more than 30 countries in four continents in the past few years and spent time with sports leaders, coaches, athletes, sponsors, sports scientists, sports academics, sports medicine practitioners, sports administrators, government funding agencies and other sports professionals in many of the world’s leading sports systems,five world wide trends in society
(and by extension in sport) have become very clear and are screaming so loud that they can no longer be ignored.

Ignore them at your peril.

Coach education is at the crossroads.

One thing is for certain, the way we have trained, educated and developed sports coaches in the past is not working. It has failed.

Let’s talk about a new approach in Coach Training, Education and Development: A Client Focused Approach.

Let’s talk about CoachT.E.D. (pronounced Coached): Coach Training, Education and Development.

And most importantly, let’s talk about training, educating and developing more coaches and better coaches: coaches who can provide every person involved in sport with the environment and the opportunity to develop a passion for sport, a life long love of physical fitness and activity and the chance to choose a path to realise their potential as athletes and human beings.

So much of the world’s high performance sports dollars (or Yens or Yuans or Euros or Pounds or Pesos or Rands depending on where you come from), time, energy, focus and attention is spent on three things:

1. Talent identification;
2. Talent recruitment;
3. Talent development.

Or if you like, find them, sign them, refine them.

And most of the world has still got it wrong. There is a better way.

The Commonwealth Games  medal table is about to return to normal in Delhi.

And, unfortunately for Australia, this could mean a reduction in medals of up to 20% compared to results at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The Perfect (Medal) Storm which has existed since 1994 is at an end and it is time for normal viewing to return.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, are only months away.

What are we hearing from some athletes, coaches, administrators, the media and the public?

“It’s going to be hot over there”

“I am so worried about the security issues”

“How will we manage the travel?”

“I’m worried about the food and the health issues”

“I’m an endurance athlete – how will I compete when I have to breathe in all that pollution”.

Here’s a solution for you – don’t go!

If you are already talking yourself out of medal contention, then don’t go. Drop out. Give up  now.

Step back and let someone else -someone who wants to win and who will do whatever it takes to prepare to win in Indian conditions to take your place.

Or learn from this……